If you're a church planter who's ever felt like you couldn't make it, this post is for you. I met a guy at a church planter's meeting today who said that at one point his church owed the city a total of 6 months worth of rent for the school in which they met.
What was the total you ask?: T-w-e-l-v-e-T-h-o-u-s-a-n-d-D-o-l-l-a-r-s
That's right... his church plant had a rough patch where they had to beg the schools to let them stay "just one more week" over and over until the church got enough traction to gain enough momentum to pay the city back. I asked him how much he still owed. He said "Nothing... today we keep them paid plus they have $800 of our money as an act of good faith for the future. We want them to know that it was a crazy time and we're solvent enough now to not let that happen again."
A second guy at the table said that his former church plant was renting a section of a strip mall when they got 3 months behind in rent. The owner of the mall asked if they wanted to use more space. The Pastor said "Sir, we can't afford the space we have." The owner said "I didn't ask you that... do you want it or not?" Apparently not long after that the owner dies and the Pastor is brought in to discuss the meeting space. The owner had written into his will that the church was to take the deed of the entire strip mall. Crazy huh?
Anyway... I thought it was cool to hear crazy stories of church planting because now both congregations are thriving and God's Kingdom is rockin' because of the tenacity of these churches to keep moving forward in spite of adversity.
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